How We Used To Be
by RavenAcA3
Summary: Have you ever realized that you made the worse mistake to let someone go? Did you barely realize that years later, after everything turns to crap? When you suddenly go back into their lives... will they accept you? That may be a possibility... Rated T just in case of violence and bad language; rating may change later. First Fanfic-hope you enjoy! MxN
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, or original story of Gakuen Alice. They belong to their rightful creator Tachibana Higuchi.

 **Authors Note:** Hi everyone, this is RavenAcA3 or Ally, for those who know me for my comments on most of the Gakuen Alice fanfictions. I've always wanted to write a fanfiction since I love to write, but never really got around to it because of my schedule and epic writer's block. So since I finally found time, I decided to post for the first time. This is my first fanfiction ever, so I hope you do enjoy. Since I'm actually trying to go back into writing, and if I continue this story, it'll take sometime to start writing how I used to. So hopefully you guys like this prolouge; please enjoy! ^-^

 **Notes:** _Italics -_ In mind thoughts

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"Natsume, what is your damn problem?!" I yelled at Natsume as we go into our hotel room while the bodyguards closed the front door. We had just got back from Natsume's big concert with his band "Painted Crimson".

"My problem?! What's your own damn problem Mikan? Why do you make such a big deal of things?"

This is how our evenings always started now, ever since he became mainstream and famous. Arguing and yelling at each other, so much yelling. And, it wasn't always like this you know. We actually used to be very happy, considered as the star couple; and we were! We were expected to be married next year since I was already his fiance.

"A big deal?! You were hugging that, that woman! And not to mention, kissing her cheek in front the whole public!"

"And what's wrong with that? We're just close friends Mikan!"

I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the living room making him stop also, and turned to look at him slowly.

"Just friends Natsume? Are you serious?" I looked at him with an 'accusing' tone of my voice, "Friends? Close Friends… with your EX GIRLFRIEND?"

Natsume stood his ground, not fazed at the glares I was throwing at him. "Yes Mikan, close friends."

"Natsume," I walked up to him, "Did you forget what she did to you? Did you forget the reason why you two broke up in the first place? And now you guys are 'close friends', is that where you disappear to all the time?"

Natsume stayed quiet, almost as if he were trying to choose his words wisely. I stood there in front of him, waiting for him to answer me. He was being far too quiet now.

 _Is it true? All of the rumors? Were you back with Luna, and I was just a rebound?_

"Natsume," I got closer to him so I was looking up at his face, "Is that where you go?"

What about all the reassurance you were trying to comfort me with?

He looked away from me, his bangs covering his face. "Natsume," I cupped his cheek and turned his face towards me gently, "answer me."

He looked at me and whispered while taking my hand and gave it back to me. "Yes, Mikan."

 _When you leave at night, almost every week… What did you and Luna do?_

"Natsume, why?" My heartbeat started to become faster when he let go of my hand, giving it back to me.

"Mikan," he sighed and took a step back trying to keep himself composed, "Luna is like… fresh air to me."

My heart started to ache in my chest. _Fresh air? Do you not trust me as to not let me comfort you?_

"Natsume, Luna is your Ex-girlfriend," I explained to him as a mixture of emotions started to fill my mind and my heart, "What do you mean fresh air?"

He sighed again and took a step forward to me. "What I'm trying to say is…," he started as he reached for my left hand which I wore our engagement ring.

 _Natsume… please don't…_ I feel the pressure on my chest and my heart start to crack...

"I wanted to tell you earlier," he looked at the ring on my finger, "that I realized that…"

 _Please… don't talk anymore…_ My heart starts to crack from another part of my heart… a piece falls...

He looked deep into my eyes as he took the engagement ring between his thumb and index finger, "I realized that, even if I broke up with Luna before. And I know, you love me."

 _Natsume… Why are you-..._ More pieces start to fall...

"Even though I did love you once…" He started to twist the ring.

 _No Natsume, please!_ "Natsume, please don't say that. You and I- we can start over! We don't have to have these arguments! I'll be here, I'll stay quiet, and I'll keep supporting you like I always have!" I fell onto my knees and started to tear up. Natsume still held my hand, his fingers still wrapped around the ring.

"Just please," I could barely manage to speak as my tears started to pour down. I could feel the pieces of my heart slowly falling into an abyss of nothingness. I looked up at him already sobbing, "Just please, don't let me go."

He looked down at me in sympathy, almost as if he were reconsidering what he was planning on doing.

"Don't leave me," I pleaded to him, "I lov-"

"I'm sorry Mikan," he quickly put on his mask and looked down at me stoically, "I just… don't love you how I love Luna." He twisted and pulled the ring off my finger, letting my hand drop to the ground. I felt my heart shatter, leaving nothing but the abyss.

"We're over Mikan," he looked at me then turned towards the front door while I stay on my knees on the ground. He walked away not even sparing a second glance at me.

 _It must be a joke… those rumors weren't true… he's just testing me..._

"N-Natsume," I leaned a bit forward and raised my hand up as to reach out for him to keep him from leaving, "Don't leave. I-I lov-"

"We're over Mikan," he opened the front to the hotel room, "I'll have the bodyguards accompany you back to our hometown to assure your safety home. After that, you and I, forget about it. Because now this relationship will be nothing."

I finally stood up from the floor, tears still falling.

"But Natsume," I started walking and reaching out to him, "I lov-"

"Drop it Mikan!" He yelled and looked at me, glaring at me. I flinched at his glare and slowly put my hand down. "Get into that small-brain of

yours that I DO NOT LOVE YOU!"

I stood there quiet. When I opened my mouth to say something he started to talk before I could.

"I tried to put it in simple terms, but you're only making this more complicated for me."

"Natsume, I-" I tried to speak, hoping to at least try and make him reconsider.

He sighed and continued to glare at me frustrated, "Let me put this simply. I do not love you, and will never love you like I do Luna. And why would anyone love someone as naive, annoying, overbearing, and non-attractive such as you? Honestly, overtime, this 'relationship' has been nothing but bothersome and a waste of time. I don't even know why I considered marrying you"

Every word that came out of his mouth pierced my being. I didn't want to believe it.

"Finally you get it," he turned to walk out the door, "Like I said, the bodyguards will take you home to assure your safety. When you go back to the hometown, you will neither speak nor remember ever meeting me or Luna. We are now strangers, so don't even considered trying to contact me." He said monotonously as he walked out the door with a couple of bodyguards not saying anything else.

As I stood there, the other bodyguards that were left for me instructed me on what to do, telling me on our time for departure and the amount of time I have left to get my things and leave before Natsume comes back with Luna.

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Hopefully you guys enjoyed this prologue. Please Like and Review ~ Your comments and critiques are welcomed!

 _One more thing_ \- I usually get my inspiration to write while I listen to music. So, I'll most likely be mentioning the song I had in mind at the time while I listen to many genres, which range from classical to rock, so it wont be the same kind of inspiration each chapter depending on the topic. For this story, the song I had in mind was kind of a mix between _**"Can You Feel My Heart"**_ by **Bring Me The Horizon** and _**"Everytime"**_ by **Britney Spears** (This song may appear again in future chapters).


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, or original story of Gakuen Alice. They belong to their rightful creator Tachibana Higuchi; this is totally fanbased.

 **Author's Note:** Hi guys! This is Ally! Sorry for the late… LATE… update. I was just trying to get some chapters done before I can continue this story. So "yes", I will be continuing this story and hopefully you guys will enjoy the upcoming chapters. So, don't worry when you start reading this, the major time skip is meant to be. Everything in this layout I have set is intended! Enjoy this chapter!

 **Notes:** _Italics_ – In mind thoughts

 **Character Ages:** Basically, the whole groups ages go from 25 to 26; besides some characters such as Youichi, Aoi, Tsubasa, and Misaki.

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 **Five Years Later**

 _Goodness, it's so loud in here. Why am I even here in the first place? I hate parties…_

It was about ten at night, and to celebrate a successful tour for our band "Painted Crimson", Luna decided to through a party/gathering in the terrace area of a bar owned by her "Daddy" in a city close to my hometown. I looked at my fiancé, who was currently… obviously, flirting with my lead drummer Rio. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and being Rio, he pulled her closer by the waist and smirked as he kissed her neck.

I scoffed irritated at the sight of them and got up from the couch to go to a more isolated area of the terrace. The area I found was in a slightly narrow viewing area where people could go to look over the city, which was quite the beautiful sight on a night such as this one.

"I don't even know half of the people here at this party," I said to myself leaning on the fence that separated me from the nice view.

While leaning on the fence, I thought about how my life turned out. I'm a successful singer and song writer whose had everything he could ever want, and yet… I felt like something was missing from my life. I took out my phone and looked at the pictures displayed on my gallery.

While flipping through the pictures, one of the pictures in particular caught my eye, and I unconsciously smiled at the picture. I remember that day like no other.

 **Flashback**

"You know Natsume," a beautiful brunette caught my attention.

"Hm?"

She shifts places from her spot and rests her head on top of my chest. I respond by entangling my fingers in her soft and long locks, while the other wraps around her waist. Pulling her closer so she could have a more comfortable position on my chest.

"I know I don't say this often, but, thank you for always being there for me," she says quietly but audible enough for me to hear, "You've made me the most happiest girl in the world, you know? I don't want to feel selfish, but I feel so lucky to have someone like you to love me back."

I let my guard down and smile. Soon after, the brunette's breathing came even. I look down at her, I take out my phone and kiss her forehead while snapping a picture of us.

"Mikan," I whisper into her hair as she clings onto me in her sleep, "You don't have to say 'thank you', your actions speak for you. Your everlasting smile that reaches your eyes is what makes my day brighter. Waking up knowing you're right next to me is everything I look forward to. Looking at you giving your all, staying by my said, and loving me just the same, is what drives me to come back to you. You deserve to feel as selfish as you want."

I hug her closely, tilting her head up in a comfortable position to where I can kiss her lightly on the lips.

"I love you, Mikan Sakura."

 **End Flashback**

I smile… and then sigh at the picture letting the screen go black. I lean back, away from the fence and onto the wall behind me.

 _Where… Where did it all go wrong?_ I look up at the sky and bang my fist lightly at the wall behind me. _Mikan… How are you doing? Are you healthy? Where are you?_ I tilt my head down and look at my hands, "Is it wrong to say that 'I miss you'?"

"Natsume," a squeaky slurred voice called to me.

I looked to see Luna, walking sexily to me in her tight fitting… and rather overly revealing… short cocktail dress. She reaches me and makes me turn to face her, she then presses her chest up against me wrapping her arms around my chest.

"I didn't see you at the party," she said trying to pull off a pouty kid voice, "Why aren't you there living it up? This is for your band after all. The leader should be there, LEADING the party."

I look down at her with expressionlessly and move the unruly hair in front of her face behind her ear. "You know that parties aren't my thing, Luna." She looks up at me thoughtfully and presses up more against me.

"Oh, I know Natsume. But, why don't you come over and relax a bit with me. You made me feel lonely when you left me at the bar," she smiled so sinfully yet cute; I roll my eyes at her comment.

She leans up toward me wrapping her arms around my neck, while pecking my lips she whispers lustfully, "Maybe later we could have some fun at the hotel. I know how much you like to play Nat…"

 _She's nothing compared to Mikan…_ I say to myself… _Nothing close to Mikan…_

I lean down, wrapping my arms around Luna's waist and pulled her up slightly giving her a deep kiss; a quite bittersweet kiss. She tried to deepen the kiss more by pulling me down with her arms around my neck. But I resisted quickly pulling away from her, pushing passed her and to the bar.

 _That's enough Natsume. You made the decision to leave Mikan, and that was five years ago!_

I sit at the bar and get the attention of the bartender, "Keep the rum coming until I pass out… and give me your choice of mixed drink after each six shots…"

"Sure thing, Sir," the bartender nodded and got my drinks ready.

 _I've had enough of these damn thoughts…_

As I downed the drinks and shots like water, even though I'm a heavy weight, I chose rum because I knew it would affect me rather quickly. I wanted to get rid of these thoughts… these regrets… I wanted to ease my mind of the memories of Mikan… her hair… her laugh…

 _Her smile… her smile that lit up my world… that set my heart aflame…_

Before I knew it, I was overly tipsy. And while the world twisted and shifted under my legs, my whole world went black.

 **2 a.m.**

 _Cold… Why is it so cold?_

"Sir, are you alright?"

 _Whose voice is that?_ I tried to open my eyes and move, but my body forbade me to. I feel wetness and the crackling of thunder, then warmness touch my neck.

"Thank goodness you're still alive!"

 _A woman?_

"W-who are-"

"Don't speak," the voice said as I felt my torso being lifted up, "Conserve your energy. I'm going to have to drag you a bit okay, but don't worry, my car is just across the street. I'm going to get you out of this rain."

I tried to nod to her but wasn't able to, I actually wanted to stop her. She could be a crazy fan of mine, who knows what she could do to me. But, my body didn't allow me to make any movement; I felt sore and fatigued. My mind was spinning, and it felt like my head was thrown against a wall.

As the woman dragged me to her car, she tried to lay me down gently across her backseat. She lifted my head gently, placing a cushion under my head; and then placed something that felt like a blanket over my body. I felt her close the backseat doors and then get into the driver seat.

"I'm going to turn up the heat so you can get warm alright," she said starting her car and turning on the heater. "I'll try and not be so rough on the road, but I need to hurry and give you some medical attention. I don't know how long you've been under the rainfall, and I don't know if you have hypothermia or frostbite. This is one of our worse rainfalls we've had this year, hopefully you didn't catch anything serious."

As she drives and explains what she's going to do, warmth finally envelops me and the calm and smooth sound of her voice makes me relax. I don't know when, but I sleep soon overcame me.

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 **Natsume's Mind**

 _It's warm now… it was so cold earlier… What happened?_

I think opened my eyes, and all I saw was darkness all around me. As I start to walk around, trying to find something to put me in my right mind to where I was, a bright light sudden came before me.

"Natsume," a familiar voice called out to me, "Are you there?"

I looked at the light and started to walk toward it. As I got closer to it, the area around me started to feel warmer, "Hello?"

"Natsume," the familiar voice whined to me, "We'll be late to the next to our next class if you don't hurry up! We'll get detention again! You know how Jin-Jin is."

My eyes widened as I realized whose voice it was. The voice I missed so much, and was dying to hear again. Feeling determination to see the face behind the voice, I start to run toward the light.

"Mikan," I yelled, "Mikan, I'm right here!"

"Natsume, hurry up! We have five more minutes left until the bell rings!"

"Mikan, I'm right here! I'm com-"

As I ran into the light, I was cut off by the scene I saw before me. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the area around me. It looked really familiar, almost like…

"Natsume, what is your damn problem?!"

"My problem?! What's your own damn problem Mikan? Why do you make such a big deal of things?"

I went toward the commotion and became shocked at the scene playing out in front of me. _This was the day… the day I lost everything…_ As the fight raged on between Mikan and myself, I saw how Mikan broke down, falling to her knees.

 _How could I have been such a jerk… saying all of those things…_

I saw as every word pierced through Mikan's being. She flinched at each word being thrown at her, each feeling like a dagger to the heart. As my "other self" left, I went to Mikan and kneeled down in front of her as she sat up looking down at her palms.

"Mikan," I wanted to reach out for her and cup her face, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize what I did and-

As I try to pour my heart out to her, Mikan then gets up and heads to the main bedroom to start packing her things into her bags. As she finished packing her things, Mikan tells the personal guards that she'll be down shortly. When the guards leave with her things, Mikan then sits at the edge of the bed. She looks in a bag she had next to her and takes out a picture of the two of us in grade school. As she stares deep at the picture, Mikan then lowers her head, hugging the picture into her chest and starts sobbing quietly.

"Mikan," I reached out to her, wanting to comfort her. I just wanted to hold her in my arms, and tell her that everything would be okay. I wanted to see her smile again… _I want to be with you again…_

But as I reached out to her, her sobs became silent, and everything around me became white.

"What in the world?" I retracted my hand and looked around me. When I looked back to look at the sobbing Mikan, I was startled to see she was standing in front of me now. She was just standing… with emotionless eyes.

"M-Mikan?"

She then slowly lifts up her head slowly and looks at me, giving me a clear view of her emotionless eyes. The said "Mikan" then points toward the back of me.

"What is it," I say as I turn around and see a wall behind me.

Becoming more confused, I did a full spin, both looking for the Mikan that motioned me to look behind and realizing I was in a hallway.

 _A hallway? Why am I here?_

I then started to walk down the hallway, and as I got deeper, I smelt the smell of anesthetics and medicine. _A hospital…_ I then hear a door suddenly slam open and quickly turn around to see a crowd of doctors and nurses going into what looked like an operation room around the corner.

"Mikan!"

"Mikan?" As soon as I heard her name, I rushed toward the commotion. When I turned the corner, I see nurses standing in front of the door and a familiar blonde holding a black-haired woman back from busting into the room.

"Mikan! Please! Please, be alright! Fight back!" The black-haired woman yelled toward the door struggling as the blonde male behind her held her back by hugging her from the behind.

The woman then dropped to her knees sobbing and stopped struggling. She then turned around and hugged the blonde sobbing loudly into his chest, "Please Mikan… I need you here… your children need you, please don't leave them. Don't leave please!"

"I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Nogi," the nurse in front of the pair explained, "I cannot let you go in while the operations take place. Mrs. Nogi, I promise to give you updates on what's happening from your brother personally. We can't have you here in the hallway though, so could you please go to the waiting area?"

I go closer to the two and look at them closely. _Ruka's last name? So this must be Ruka, and this is…"_

The blonde holds the black-haired woman in his arms as she sobs quietly into his chest.

"Yes," Ruka's nods to the nurse while also holding the black-haired woman protectively, "Thank you so much. Could you lead us to the waiting room please, and maybe the food court?"

The nurse then smiles and nods walked passed them and leading the way. I push passed them and made my way into room that was said to hold Mikan. Not sure, nor preparing myself, to what I might witness.

"She's losing a lot of blood Sir!"

"Get extra blood bags and prepare for operation!"

As the doctor and nurses prepared for major operation, I took this chance to walk over to the body that was Mikan's and stood there in shock. I looked down at her body… almost lifeless. Cuts… bruises.. burns… blood… everywhere… And her head, it looked slightly caved in.

"Oh my God, Mikan." My eyes started to water, and as I was about to reach for her, she slowly started to fade away from my vision.

"Mikan," I tried to grab ahold of her quickly, only to be met with air. "Mikan, no please!"  
I then drop to my knees, waving my arms in the air in front of me. Trying to feel something, trying to grab onto any trace… ANY MEMORY… of Mikan I can hold onto.

"Mikan! Come back!" I yell into the air, and then…

 **Beep… Beep… Beep…**

I open my eyes in a panic, my eyes greeted with light. As I steadied my breaths, I looked around trying to take in my surroundings. I was in a light turquoise room… it didn't look like a hospital…

"Oh," I heard a small gasp from my right side.

I then heard steps coming towards me, "Is he awake Aoi?"

"Mmhmm," a little girl's voice responded back to a boy's voice.

I heard steps come closer and then something carefully going onto the bed. I then came face to face with the greyish-blue eyes of a 7 year old boy.

"Yup, he is," the boy looked at me then looked away into another direction, "Aoi, go get Mom."

I then heard little steps scurry away, leaving me alone with the boy.

 _Where the heck am I?_

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Hopefully you guys enjoyed this next chapter. Please Like and Review ~ Your comments and critiques are welcomed!

 _ **Answers to Comments:**_

 **pipergrace19:** Thank you very much! It'll be kind of sad in certain areas (I won't say where), but this story WILL have its fair share of fluff.

 **Lalalu:** Thank you very much for the comment! I'm glad you liked it, hopefully you enjoyed this one too. And yes, I do plan to make him suffer a bit ;) Let's just see how though.

 **Anonymous:** Glad you liked it :) And yes, other characters will be coming in later chapters. I like to pick where to add certain characters and make sure they come in at a certain time when the chapter permits.

 **Cliobonbon:** Sorry for the late update! My schedule on updates depend on how busy I am, but I plan to try and update at least once a week.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, or original story of Gakuen Alice. They belong to their rightful creator Tachibana Higuchi; this is totally fanbased.

 **Author's Note:** Hi guys! It's Ally, who is trying, to keep the updates coming. Hopefully, you guys are enjoying this story so far. I'm trying to keep the twists coming 😉, so let me know what you guys think so far. By the way, Natsume is majorly OOC in this chapter. Thank you to those who have liked my story so far; thank you so much for your support!

 **Notes:** _Italics_ – In mind thoughts

NOW! Continuing where we left off…

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"Yup, he is," the boy looked at me then looked away into another direction, "Aoi, go get Mom."

I then heard little steps scurry away, leaving me alone with the boy.

 _Where the heck am I?_

When steps sounded distant, the little boy removed himself from the position he was in right next to me and then just stood by the bed. Before the silence got any worse, the little boy tugged at my hand to get my attention.

"Excuse me," the boy said monotonously and I looked toward him, "You've been asleep for a while now. And I'm sure your thirsty, so would you like water, Sir?"

I nodded to him as an answer. "Umm, sure."

He nodded and walked away. As he left the room, I struggled to sit up a bit. Although my body didn't seem surprisingly stiff, my muscles did feel rather dull and ached from what I figured was because of the lack of use while I was out. When I positioned myself, while leaning my head and back against the backboard behind me, I took in my surroundings.

 _A light turquoise room with a closed window-like-door that looked like it led to the outside… doesn't really feel like a hospital to me…_ I look around more only to realize that I was hooked onto a heart monitor. _Hmm… this person obviously has medical background._

The little boy then came back in the room with a glass of water and a tray of what looked like… _pills?_ As I was going to ask the boy about what the tray of medicine was about, he took the glass of water and gave it to me.

"I apologize if you wanted to cold water," he stepped away from me, his voice still monotone. "I was instructed to give you water slightly warmer than room temperature.

"It's alright," I assured him and drank the water, "this is just fine."

He nodded and sat in the chair located near the bed and looked at me silently.

 _Goodness… I feel like he's staring right through me. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by the kid. I mean, I know that's embarrassing… me, Natsume Hyuga… intimidated by a child. But, he reminds me of someone else who gives me a chill up my spine._ A flash of purple eyes flashed through my mind.

"Ugh," I scowl as the boy's monotone expression turned confused, "I know you who you remind me of."

He tilts his head to the side still wondering what I was talking about.

"You remind me of the best friend of a girl I once knew," I looked at him as a memory flashed in my mind of Mikan laughing with her best friend with a monotone expression and amethyst eyes.

"Yeah, the Ice Queen," I chuckled at the memory, "Hotaru Imai."

I noticed the boy's eyes widened a little bit and looked even more confused.

"Are you alright, kiddo? Why do you look so shocked?"

"Umm," he shook his head as to get his act to get his act together and looked back at me, "How do you know Aunt Hotaru?"

"Aunt Hotaru? What do you mea –"

A knock comes where the door is and a female shows up by the doors opening.

"Hello?" As she came through the door, I stopped talking and just stared at the woman in front of me. "I hope I'm not interrupting a conversation, which would be totally surprising, but my baby girl and son told me that you were awake." She smiles as she walks toward the boy and runs her fingers through his greyish-brown hair.

"Mom, you're embarrassing me." He blushes slightly at his mom's actions, but doesn't make a move to stop her or push her hand away.

She giggles at her son's actions and smiles at him brightly. I look at her feeling shocked and surprised. Those big chocolate brown eyes that held optimism, her waist length light brown hair that flowed gracefully no matter what move she made, her giggle that sounded like little bell chimes, and her smile…. _Oh Kami-sama…_ her smile was just the most beautiful thing I've seen. And, I would know that smile anywhere.

 _Mikan Sakura…_

As I looked at her, still in shock to even process what I saw right in front of me, she kneeled to her son's level.

"Aoi, is waiting for you downstairs You-chan. Why don't you go get a snack for the both of you while I check on our guest." She tells the boy, 'You-chan', as he responds with a pout. She lets out a small chuckle and leans in kissing his forehead, "I promise I'll be fine up here. If anything goes wrong, remember your Aunt Hota-chan is only a call away."

 _Hota-chan?_ I questioned to myself as I remembered what the boy had asked me earlier.

The boy the sighed, convinced that his mother would be fine alone with me, and moved to walk out of the room. Not before whispering something to his mom, which in turn she giggled as he walked away.

She then sighs and stands up looking at me smiling. Her features becoming more apparent and fairly similar to Mikan as I take in her appearance.

"Sorry about him," she puts her hands on her hips and chuckles, "He's quite the overprotective child. Even for his age, he seems to get the picture better than I do. I hope he didn't bother you much."

As she talks, I snap out of my daze noticing that I've been staring to hard. "Umm, no. He's just find, he didn't bother me at all."

She grins toward me and turns around to open the window door. "I'm going to let some fresh air in here," she says pushing the curtains aside and opening the doors. "It's a wonderful day outside, and from the way you've been cooped up in here, I think you could use some fresh air in your life."

 _There's that optimism…_ My eyes soften as she turns back to look at me.

"Okay," she pulls out a file and open it while placing herself in the chair next to the bed, "Why don't we get started, Hyuga-san?"

I turned away and grimace as she calls me by my last name.

 _Wait… my last name?_ My head quickly snapped back towards her in a shocked expression.

"Wait," I say as I get her attention, "Why did you call me by my –"

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed and face palms herself, "I call myself a professional and I don't even think about common decency. Of course, you're wondering where you are and who I am!" She rubs the back of her neck flushed and embarrassed; then sits up straight and smiles brightly.

"My name is Mikan Yukihara, or Dr. Yukihara, if you would like to call me that," She starts off.

 _Yukihara? Not Sakura?_

"And I am the co-owner and assistant to Subaru Imai of the Medical Branch of the Imai Corps. Which you have probably heard of since it is a big corporation. You are currently in a section of my living quarters that is sometimes used for simulations; you're actually in the rehabilitating room."

I nod understandingly taking in the information, trying to form a background story. _What happen in those five years while we were apart Mikan? And Yukihara?_ I look to her hands, looking for a ring. Something, to show that I was too late. The thought of Mikan changing her name because someone else, other than me, made her happy… shook me to the bone… I feel the rage and jealousy rising within me. But then I froze…

 _Did I even deserve to feel this way about her? There she is right in front of me… smiling and happy… What right do I have to barge into her life? Would she even forgive me for that fact?_

I look over at her as she read the papers in her hand. In my own train of thought, I couldn't process the words that were coming out of her mouth.

" _And Natsume,"_ a voice echoed in the back of my mind as I look away from Mikan to my hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, _"She has kids; two beautiful kids as a matter a fact. As she said, 'Her baby girl and son'… you don't want to come in between that do you?"_ Unconsciously, my eyes widened to what my mind made me realize.

"Hyuga-san," I feel someone put their hand on my shoulder and quickly snap to see who it was, only to come face-to-face with Mikan who didn't flinch from my sudden action, "Are you alright?"

I just look at her then sudden snap out of my trance, "Umm, yes! Yes, I'm alright."

"Alright, you looked in a daze while I was talking about what happen."

"Oh, I apologize. I was kind of just collecting myself and trying to process my surroundings."

"Alright, that's understandable. You were out for some time," She said seriously, "Why don't I just give you the bases of what's happening, and then you can rest for another hour before getting up fully. Or, maybe you would like something to eat. My assistant that comes here to help me take care of you just gave you proteins and vitamins, but that's not really much compared to actual food."

I nod to her as an answer and she nods back pulling out the papers in the file to read again.

"Let's get started shall we," she smiled to me and then turned her attention to the papers, "Hyuga-san, I found you in a not so inhabited area of the town while, unfortunately, we had one of our worse storms yet. When I found you, you had the temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or 26.7 degrees Celcius. Which even though the body's normal temperature is about 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature you had is considered dangerous. Anything below the 95 degrees would be considered suffering from hypothermia, which you indeed had. You also had some cuts and bruises, luckily there was only one infected wound that was easy to take care of. And you also had a bad fever from being in the harsh weahter for too long, which is why you were out for a couple of days. I took you to my quarters, and along with my assistant and another fellow doctor, we patched you up."

I nodded trying to stay focused and not let my mind wonder. _Is this really Mikan? She's so serious… and… very intellectual sounding…_

"I was lucky to have come across you on the way back from checking on one of my patients from that side of town," she shuffled the papers. "Anyways, like I said earlier, you are in my living quarters. Don't worry, I'll try to keep your identity low-key as there are many… MANY… fangirls in this area I live in."

 _So, she knows it's me… but why is she acting like nothing had happened between us? Why is she being so forgivingly nice to me?_

"Anyway, I want to conduct one last check up to see if your equilibrium is alright and your mentality is stable. I'll be updating your file and write down your results," she put the papers away in the file and placed them on the table. "When were done here, why don't you get yourself washed and then come down to eat. There's a new set of clothes in the bathroom to the right of this room. And, if you need anything or any help, then there is a button you could press that will alert me to come."

After agreeing to her terms, she proceeded to do the check-up process on me. Gently handling my arms and hands to see if I can still function them properly, and using a flashlight to see if my eyes are dilated; smoothly going through a typical physical check-up process.

"I need to see how the healing process of your bruises and wounds is doing, so I need you to take off your shirt please."

I uncharacteristically blush wanting to refuse as I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. _Come on Natsume… how childish can you get?_

Noticing my blush and fidgeting fingers, she giggles and stands in front of me.

"Really," she looks at me teasingly, "A major superstar embarrassed of taking his shirt of for the audience?"

I scowled and pouted at her comment, only to earn another giggle from her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bruise your ego," she smiled encouragingly as she gripped my hands. "Don't worry. I'm a doctor Hyuga-san, not some fangirl. Besides, if I wanted to take advantage of you I could've just given you away to a regular local clinic, or hospital, where anyone could look like a nurse and take advantage of you while no one is looking."

She gripped the ends of my shirt gently, and after giving me a reassuring look, I let her take off my shirt.

 _Come on Natsume, you can't be like this! She's already tak –_

I feel her warm and small hands touch and trace around my back; I wanted to savor the feeling. She gently placed her fingers in areas to make sure everything looked 'together'. She 'hums' slightly lifting up my arms, and presses lightly on some areas to see my reactions towards the touch. I flinched on some of them, and in return I received a small and mumbled "Sorry".

As she helps me back into my shirt she stands in front of me and crosses her arms. "Besides some small scars, your bruises seem to be healing just fine. Your equilibrium is still iffy, so I may have to help you with some rehabilitation exercises. And your mentality seems stable, but we cannot be sure until a day or two since you barely woke up."

She looks through the files one last time before looking at the tray that her son had brought in before she came in. "Ah, I love my little helper." She smiles warmly and gets my attention to look at three medicine bottles. "Since I didn't find you with anything, I took the liberty to look at your medicine records and added an ibuprofen to help you with your aches. It's 24 hours, so only take one if you really need it. Those other two are from what I saw in your last medicine record, but it doesn't seem like you really need them. I only got them just in case you needed them while you stay here," she explains.

"Umm…" I looked at her unsure of what to really say so I just say, "Thank you Yukihara-san."

I call her by her new last name trying to accept it, as she smiles to me with the smile I love the most, "You're most welcome."

Without realizing it, I walked toward her slowly and reached out to caress her face. She looked at me shocked about my actions, but to my surprise, she didn't pull away. She just stayed there, both of us unable to break our gaze at each other. Just as I was about to pull her close, to close the distance, something… or someone came in.

"Don't you even dare to touch her!"

Mikan and I whipped our heads to the door only to see a slender woman with short raven hair with her hands on her hips. She quickly came between me and Mikan pushing me away.

"What do you think you're – " I looked up at the woman to see amethyst glaring back at me.

"Hotaru-chan, he's still recovering!"

I glare back at the amethyst eyes with my crimson ones with the same intensity, "What're you doing here Imai?"

Mikan looked at the both of us with wide eyes as she started to feel the tension in the air.

"That should be my question." She rolls her eyes and scoffs at me while crossing her arms, "It came to me as a surprise when my nephew called me to tell me about the man that my sister was taking care of was awake. It was also a surprising to find out that the said man knew me, and when I ask about his name, my nephew said 'N. Hyuga'."

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Sorry, for the late update everyone! Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this chapter. I was kind of all around on this chapter and hopefully you guys didn't get too confused.

 **Update:** Hi guys! I barely realized that I didn't actually post this chapter! I am so sorry, I am still getting used to how works and the whole save the document then go to "manage stories" to actually submit the story. So, I am sorry again for the long wait. This chapter was actually suppose to be posted about two weeks ago. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter!


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